Thinking at 4 AM will just give you ulcers
by Milwaukee Meg
Summary: In which Gintoki has a nightmare, being ghosts doesn't stop Shinpachi and Kagura from trying to help, and doors are anch-nemesis to some. Sequel to "Afterlife is a country you don't need a visa for"


A/N: This is second part of Ghost!Shinpachi and Ghost!Kagura series - I've gotten a lot of comments on the previous one about how lonely Gintoki seemed there. (THANKS TO ALL WHO REVIEWED! I LOVE YOU GUYS!) So this is my way of evening score a little - I just wanted to show how Kagura nad Shinpachi (mostly Shinpachi) deal with sad Gintoki. And that they all might be alone in some ways - but they are Yorozuya and so neither of them is REALLY alone now.

* * *

First came the moan, then a rather loud thud – and both Kagura and Shinpachi froze. It wasn't unusual per se, to hear thuds and moans from Gintoki's room (aaand now that Shinpachi thought it like that the mental image was not leaving him any time soon; he'll have to find some synonyms because he refused to talk about things like that with Kagura-chan) – the man had an unusual talent to sprawl himself over the whole floor and kick stuff in his sleep, so hearing first a "thump" and then a "groan" (ah, much better) was normal. But the reverse order was worrying. It usually meant nightmares or bad dreams – Gintoki had them occasionally, more often now than before the whole debacle with Benizakura.

And after the whole fiasco with waking him up they knew that they should not try to come anywhere near Gintoki right now.

So Kagura sat there looking at Shinpachi instead of watching some sort of ridiculous Amanto game show on TV, and Shinpachi sat there looking at Kagura instead of pretending not to watch some sort of ridiculous Amanto game show on TV, and they both tried to dare each other to check on Gintoki. Or maybe it was not a dare as much as a plea. Something in between, most likely.

There was a series of thuds, and then rustling indicating that Gintoki was dressing himself. This was getting ridiculous. Shinpachi stood up and went (he refused to call it 'floating or 'gliding', he had some self-respect!) closer to a door, just to… well, he didn't really know. He supposed it should be clear once he was there. It wasn't.

Kagura was watching him intently, probably trying to guess what he was trying to do, or maybe waiting for an occasion to poke fun at his inability to open door, both were equally probable at this point (both he and Kagura could walk through walls, of course, but there was something inherently wrong about that and they both preferred to use doors; the only problem was that they usually couldn't do it, and spent hours trying to enter Yorozuya and failing miserably.)

But before he could really think how to approach Gintoki without actually approaching, the door slid open with a little too much force, and Shinpachi was suddenly faced with a tired looking Gintoki.

"Gin-san…" he started, but at the same time Gintoki just strolled through him and that was the most disgusting feeling Shinpachi ever encountered, except for the last time it happened. Ugh. It was, it was… Ugh. "GIN-SAN! I told you not to do this!"

"Shinpachi, I did not see you there" said Gintoki, suddenly a little more alert, but still looking as if the only thing keeping him upward was the fact that he was too tired to think of sitting down. "Are you trying to watch me sleep? I thought you were a ghost, not a vampire."

"He's not a vampire, he's a perverted otaku" interjected Kagura matter-of-factly. "That's even worse. You should be ashamed of yourself, Shinpachi."

"Oi, I am NOT a perverted otaku!" said Shinpachi a bit louder than he intended. He really wasn't! "Besides, no one is so perverted that they would want to watch Gin-san sleep!"

Kagura opened her mouth to answer, but Gintoki cut in loudly, while walking briskly towards the entrance.

"I'm going out, if the old hag comes to ask for money I give you permission to scare her. Only not to death, because her ghost would be terrifying. If anything CAN be more terrifying than she is already."

"Gin-chaaaaaan, we're going with you, u-huh!" said Kagura, walking after him and literally hovering over him as he was putting on his shoes. Shinpachi just moved a little so that he could see them. He wasn't really listening the following quarrel consisting of Gintoki saying 'no' in different ways and Kagura bringing up more and more insane reasons why Gintoki shouldn't walk alone at night ("don't come running to US when you get kidnapped by a mole with a laser breath!") – it was all so predictable and useless. Shinpachi felt like he and Kagura should say something, maybe try to calm Gintoki down, maybe try to make him stay, maybe just ask what was wrong and where he disappeared every now and then. They could also tell him that he didn't have to go. That it was okay. But how could Shinpachi just go and SAY any of it? He would sometimes see Gintoki stare into space, or, like now, being not really there, restless and tired, and would just think that maybe, just maybe, a few well chosen words could help. Only Shinpachi was not like Gintoki - he didn't know what to say, and everything he thought of was cliché and embarrassing and just plain stupid. He couldn't even help Gintoki DO anything. Shinpachi didn't even know when he clenched his fists.

There was a loud bang of the door closing, and then silence.

Kagura and Shinpachi stood there for a while, not moving.

"Shinpachi" started Kagura, whispering for some reason. "I heard that if a man walks out in the night and doesn't sleep well he is cheating. Is Gin-san cheating on us? If so, we have to do something! Like punch him hard with our love, u-huh!"

"You really shouldn't watch so many romance movies" muttered Shinpachi; but actually, punching Gintoki sounded good. "He's just being an idiot."

Kagura made a little affirmative sound and folded her arms across her chest.

"Well, as good parents we should make sure he is being an idiot just at home, nowhere else."

"We're not his parents! Stop saying this random things!"

"Don't be so hard on him, we must love him no matter how useless he is, u-huh!" she said defensively. "We should go and find him and bring him back here. You'll go left and I'll go right, we'll have him in no time. THEN we'll punch him because of love."

Shinpachi smiled – Kagura's enthusiasm was infectious, and yeah, there weren't that many places Gintoki usually went at night. They shouldn't let him go in the first place, but then they could never really stop him. Still, he shouldn't sit there alone.

Shinpachi was just hoping he would come up with something to say if he found Gintoki first.

"Okay, Kagura-chan. Let's split. We'll meet here in three hours, whether we meet him or not… But first things first." he stopped. Kagura was already at the closed door.

Oh for the love of …

The door. Their arch-nemesis.

* * *

Gintoki was sitting on a bench near the river, his head tipped back, apparently looking at the stars. Shinpachi hesitated. Maybe this wasn't a best idea. He and Kagura wanted to help, yes, but would they? Gintoki was an adult, no matter how useless and childish he was sometimes. Maybe it would be better to leave this alone. They had shown him plenty times that they cared, and if Gintoki wanted to, he knew he could ask for help of company. Maybe they were too clingy… Was Gintoki just feeling smothered by constant nagging of two stupid kids?

No.

Shinpachi forced those thoughts down. They weren't true. They weren't and Gintoki should go home and he should just move and start talking.

"Proper samurai should not spend hours in the shadows sighing to themselves, unless they are in shoujo manga" said Gintoki before Shinpachi could say anything and oh no, they weren't playing like that. Shinpachi was not Kagura-chan, and he will not take a bait and let this dissolve into a petty, nonsensical argument. "Are you taking stalking tips from that Gorilla Stalker now, Shinpachi – kun?"

"I AM NOT STALKING ANYONE! DON"T COMPARE ME TO THAT USELESS GORILLA" … yeah, so much for that. Shinpachi took a deep breath, remembering what he came here to do and forcing the anger down. He took a few steps to stand in front of Gintoki. "We just wondered where you were, Gin-san. It is pretty late."

Gintoki looked at him for a while, and Shinpachi resisted the urge to squirm under that gaze. Finally, Gintoki exhaled a long, draw out breath and tipped his head back again.

"I just needed some air." He said slowly, then quickly changed the topic. "How did you manage to brave the doors?"

"Well, Kagura might have destroyed them. A little. We still can't do it right." Answered Shinpachi as he sat down next to Gintoki, not too close because of the cold he brought. He thought what to say next when he noticed that Gintoki was looking at him intently. "What is it, Gin-san?"

"You sat down" said Gintoki slowly, as if trying to figure something out. Oooh!

"Are you too cold? I'll move away!"

"No, no, it's fine, not like a little cold could kill me" answered Gintoki and before Shinpachi could inform him that yes, cold could in fact kill him very easily and probably already killed some parts of his brain for all the stupid things he's been saying lately, he continued in a weirdly soft tone. "Look, didn't you get a book or something as you became a ghost? Any tips? I don't think that my budget can take all those repairs when it comes to doors. Walls. TV. Lightbulbs. Everything, basically. Wasn't there a voice of your ancestors telling you to be a good ghost and how to open doors? There should be. "

"No, we did not get a book. Or tips. How? Who would have given it? It was just…" Shinpachi didn't like to talk about that. But Gintoki knew this. And Gintoki never really asked before. Was he… Did Gintoki want to know what happened when you died? Was it all about this? … Gintoki didn't ask, not really, but there was something strange about him and Shinpachi didn't like it. But it was a question nonetheless. Could he…?

"It didn't hurt. It was just… suddenly I wasn't where I was, and then I was standing in a street and nobody saw me." He lied. "There wasn't time for meetings with ancestors, or things like that. A flash of … nothing and then being there but not."

He didn't dare to look at Gintoki, choosing instead to look at the river and how the lights danced across the water. Gintoki didn't say a thing.

"Thank you. For noticing me then and talking to me." Said finally Shinpachi, embarrassed and angry at Gintoki for making it hard to tell him those things.

"Don't, I thing that putting up with me makes that even." There was a smile in Gintoki's voice, and Shinpachi risked a glance in his direction. He appeared to be more relaxed. Good.

They sat there in companionable silence for a while. The distant chime of the clock suddenly made Shinpachi start.

"I told Kagura-chan we'll meet in three hours! Come on, Gin-san!" if he could drag the man he would. Gintoki stood up slowly, stretching himself a little.

"Eh, we better go back before she destroys the flat and I get killed by that old baba." He said with his usual lazy drawl and Shinpachi could have sang in joy. "Oh and you should work on your lying skills, Pattsuan."

Maybe not. But it was okay.

* * *

A/N: Writing Shinpachi is a challange for me, because he's more introspective than other characters, I think. And it turned out I don't have any idea how to write Kagura. OOps.

Please leave a review, I really want to hear what do you think about this whole story.


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